Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first responders are the courageous men and women who go to work every day to put their lives on the line to keep us safe when we need it the most. This bill aims to create the most comprehensive workers' compensation coverage for firefighters in Canada by covering all types of cancer and heart disease.

The bill also gets rid of latency periods for these diseases and makes the sole requirement employment for two years in a fire department.

The bill also applies to full-time, part-time, and volunteer firefighters. The 24-requirement for presumptive coverage for cardiac arrest after an emergency response is also being eliminated.

The NWT and Nunavut are the only jurisdictions in Canada that do not provide presumptive coverage for post-traumatic stress disorder for all first responders. This bill will change that, if passed, making it easier for firefighters, nurses, police officers, paramedics, continuing care assistants, sheriffs, correction officers, emergency dispatch coordinators, and members of search and rescue organizations.

Mr. Speaker, the origin of this was a simple conversation. I attended the Yellowknife Fire Department to learn about their Wounded Warriors announcement where they would be working with that organization to provide support for first responders who were in crisis. We heard powerful stories that day. We also -- we live in this territory. We see these first responders every day, and we see their stories. We know them. And we certainly feel their loss when they are taken from us prematurely due to workplace illness that arises from their very difficult professions or the -- or mental illness, including PTSD, that comes from the tremendous strain they're under all the time.

That conversation led to looking at this legislation and seeing how this Assembly could work to help them to bring forward some comprehensive changes and catch up with the rest of Canada because, as I said, we're very -- Nunavut and Northwest Territories are the only jurisdictions without PTSD coverage, and this has been asked for for a period of time. But I'm not really interested in looking at the history of this. I would like to move forward instead.

The bill is before us now and proposes to do things that would make it, you know, world class in terms of its ability to care for first responders in our communities. This is getting ahead of some other jurisdictions, especially in regard to firefighters, that have made political commitments but haven't yet materialized as legislation. And I hope that this bill ultimately will pass. Of course, today we're just discussing sending it to a committee, but that this bill will eventually pass and will be an inspiration for other jurisdictions to do more for their first responders as well.

Another thing that we've done some media on this and talked about it already. One oversight we made was we forgot about search and rescue workers, those who are members of search and rescue organizations. I've spoken in this House about those great individuals, whether they be volunteer members of the armed forces or RCMP, search and rescue is a really crucial function that is vital to safeguarding Northerners from, you know, very challenging circumstances when they do go missing in our vast and often unforgiving territory. And this bill will make sure that those folks are taken care of as well if PTSD is something they are struggling with.

So I don't have many more comments than that. This bill is small but impactful, and I hope we can make a difference in people's lives. I don't want to see anyone come to harm, mental or physical or otherwise and certainly when that does happen, we need to be there for our first responders, and that's exactly what this bill aims do.

And I have a personal connection to this. I used to be a first responder. I was a sheriff for several years. My father was a volunteer firefighter for close to 30 years. So this has always been part of my family. And I've seen how stressful and difficult it can be and want to make sure that we take care of our first responders as best we can. So thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I hope we'll hear other Members step up and support this important initiative and, at the appropriate time, I would like to request a recorded vote. Thank you.